On the other hand if they DO come back, we do something similar. We hold on to the same guys, but I'm going to go out on a limb and do something crazy here:
C - Kevin Garnett
PF - Brandon Bass
SF - Jeff Green
SG - Avery Bradley
PG - Rajon Rondo
Plus the following bench:
PF - Jared Sullinger
SF - Paul Pierce
SG - Jason Terry
PG - Terrence Williams
Now this is actually a very balanced lineup. We have an elite defensive starting lineup who (with the return of Rondo) will still be solid offensively...but more importantly we have an incredibly strong second unit.
Firstly Pierce and Terry would wreak havok against opposing second units. Terry is a streak shooter who is deadly when hot, but Pierce is a consistent scoring threat who would torture opposing second units from outside, in the post and off the dribble. Both of those guys take a lot of jump shots, but this is ok because we'd have an elite rebounder and hustle guy (Sullinger) to clean up the boards. Sullinger is also a very good decision maker, a very good passer, and he's capable enough as a scorer (inside and out) that teams need to respect him.
Terrence Williams has proven he can be a steady player at the PG spot - he's not an elite scorer but he is a good ball handler who doesn't commit turnovers, stays composed under pressure and seems to make great decisions with the ball. He also has the ability to switch on defense and defend positions from PG through to SF and is a solid rebounder and very capable defender. He might be exactly the backup PG we need.
Every one of the guys on this list (bar Sullinger) has proven they can handle playoff pressure, so you know you can trust them when it comes down to the line.
All we need to do now is add a servicable backup center (someone like Chris Kaman) which we should be capable of doing by trading our existing trade chips (Crawford, Fab, Lee, Wilcox, etc) along with draft picks if needed.
This gives us out 10 man rotation.
Then we simply use trade exceptions (if we have any) along with min contract deals to fill out spots 11-13 wit servicable vets - maybe sign a combo guard like Kirk Heinrich and a big (maybe bring back either Wilcox / Shavlik) as end of bench guys. This leaves roster spots 14 and 15 free for late season acquisitions, as Doc and DA like to do.
In fact, maybe even use a guy like Heinrich as the backup PG and use T Williams as a versatile multi-positional backup as below:
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STARTERS
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C: K Garnett - 25 Min (25 @ C)
PF: B Bass - 28 Min (28 @ PF)
SF: J Green - 32 Min (28 @ SF, 4 @ PF)
SG: A Bradley - 25 Min (25 @ SG)
PG: R Rondo - 36 Min (36 @ PG)
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Second Unit
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C: C Kaman - 23 Minutes (23 @ C)
PF: J Sullinger - 16 Minutes (16 @ PF)
SF: P Pierce - 24 Minutes (20 @ SF, 4 @ SG)
SG: J Terry - 23 Minutes (20 @ SG, 4 @ PG)
PG: K Heinrich - 8 Minutes (8 @ PG)
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Reserves
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G/F: T Williams
F/C: S Randolf / C Wilcox
This gives us a nice balance between offense and defense, gives us one of the strongest second units in the league, and gives us great versatility to cover multiple positions in case of an injury.
For example:
* If we lose a Rondo we have Jet, Heinrich and Williams all capable of playing PG
* If we lose AB we have Terry, Heinrich, Pierce and Williams who can all play SG
* If we lose Green we have Pierce and Williams who can both play SF
* If we lose Bass we have KG, Sully, Randolf/Wilcox who can all play PF
* If we lose KG we have Kaman, Randolf / Wilcox, Bass, Sully who can all play C
On top of all this we never need to play Avery at PG, and we get to limit KG and Pierce to ~25 MPG to keep them fresh.
The only guys we really add here are Kaman and Heinrich, so it just goes to show we are really one one or two pieces away from being a VERY good team, and I think we have the trade chips to pick up guys like that. Hell Heinrich would may even sign for the Vet min for a team like the Celtics.
Topic: If KG and Pierce want another round, would you let them? (Read 7791 times)